SHAH ALAM, May 12 — Chief Insp Azilah Hadri and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar today lodged a police report against blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin over an allegation he made in his weblog.
This followed a discussion between the two policemen from the Special Action Unit charged with murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu and their lawyers at the end of today's court proceedings at 5pm.
Azilah's counsel, Datuk Hazman Ahmad, told the court earlier that Raja Petra's allegation of his client shouting and threatening him while at the Sungai Buloh prison was not true.
"Raja Petra said Azilah and Sirul had threatened him and the prison authorities were unable to ensure his safety. I have obtained statements from the two accused and they said that this had never happened.
"They also have never met Raja Petra and did not know when he was placed. His statement was prejudicial to the accused and this trial. It should not have been made without facts," Hazman said.
Sirul's lawyer, Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin, said Raja Petra's report in an article entitled "Thank you so much and sorry for letting you down" in the Malaysia Today weblog gave a bad picture of his client's character.
In the article posted on May 9, Raja Petra wrote: "When I arrived in Sungai Buloh Prison, something happened that put the entire prison on full alert. Sirul and Azilah, who were in the same block as me, Blok Damai, shouted for me to watch my back and that they will get me.
"I was quickly whisked out of the block. It seems they were angry that the Altantuya murder trial, which had disappeared from the radar screens, has now, again, been given the spotlight. Why should that upset them. Why the need for the Altantuya murder trial to disappear from the radar screens."
High Court Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin, who presides over the murder trial, said after hearing the lawyers' complaint that he would not be influenced by Raja Petra's allegation.
"I too have read such reports in newspapers and weblogs. Whether it is true or not, let it be investigated," he said.
Azilah, 32, and Sirul, 37, are alleged to have murdered Altantuya, 28, in October 2006 at a Bukit Raja secondary jungle.
Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 48, is charged with abetting them.
The trial which entered its 109th day today saw Deputy Public Prosecutor Manoj Kurup ending his 11-day, mainly procedural, examination-in-chief of investigating officer ASP Tonny Lunggan, the prosecution's 75th witness.
The trial continues tomorrow. — Bernama
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